This invention relates generally to clean up of hydrocarbon polluted soil, and more particularly to dispersing of microbes into hydrocarbon pollutant-containing soil to reduce pollutant levels.
Hydrocarbon pollution occurs in many ways, and areas, among which are the following:
1) spillage into the ground as at gasoline service stations (i.e., from rusted tanks, etc.); PA1 2) leakage into the ground, i.e., formation, at or near oil wells; and PA1 3) spillage into the ocean as from oil tanks or oil tankers, and also from bilge pumped into the sea. PA1 a) forming the soil into a flowing particulate stream, PA1 b) forming an aqueous liquid mixture of water and treating substance that reacts with hydrocarbon to form CO.sub.2 and water, PA1 c) dispersing the liquid mixture into the particulate soil stream to wet the particulate, and, PA1 d) allowing the substance to react with the wetted soil particulate to thereby for CO.sub.2 and water, whereby the resultant soil is beneficially treated.
Cleanup of such hydrocarbon pollutants is difficult, time consuming and expensive. While microbes have been employed to consume hydrocarbons, it is difficult to deploy the microbes, accurately and in sufficient quantity into polluted in situ soil.